The threat made by a Perkasa leader to "chop off heads" of those who insult the Selangor sultan or insult Islam, will become an offence under one of the three new bills that are slated to replace the Sedition Act.
National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC)'s law committee deputy chair Lim Chee Wee, who is part of the committee that drafted the bill, said today that the person who made the threat did so with "with clear intentions to cause harm to another individual" on the basis of race and religion.
This will become an offence under the proposed Racial and Religious Hate Crime Bill, he said.
However Lim, a former Bar Council president, said that Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali's threat to burn bibles made last year might not be considered an offence as it was not intended to harm any particular person.
Perkasa information chief Ruslan Kassim made the "chop off head" remark during a fiery speech during a rally near the Selangor palace yesterday.
Lim said that the Sedition Act had a low threshold, which means a person can be charged or convicted without a need to prove their intentions.
“In sedition the question of whether there is good intention does not arise. The question of whether (the statement) threatens other people does not arise,” he added.
The draft bill was unveiled today to the public, almost two years after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had promised that the Sedition Act will be abolished and be replaced with the National Harmony Act.
Lim was accompanied by NUCC committee member Saifuddin Abdullah and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Joseph Kurup as they also unveiled the draft bills for other accompanying bills - the National Harmony and Reconciliation Bill, and the National Harmony and Reconciliation Commission bill.
'Bills still being discussed'
He however said that the bills are still being discussed, including with its critics such as the Malay Consultative Council and right-wing NGO Perkasa.
He admitted that there have been requests to include ‘Allah’ as an exclusive terms for Muslims, among others.
“This is still in discussion,” he said briefly.
Saifuddin meanwhile outlined the main objectives of the three bills:
He said that the public can read the bill at www.nucc.my.
National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC)'s law committee deputy chair Lim Chee Wee, who is part of the committee that drafted the bill, said today that the person who made the threat did so with "with clear intentions to cause harm to another individual" on the basis of race and religion.This will become an offence under the proposed Racial and Religious Hate Crime Bill, he said.
However Lim, a former Bar Council president, said that Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali's threat to burn bibles made last year might not be considered an offence as it was not intended to harm any particular person.
Perkasa information chief Ruslan Kassim made the "chop off head" remark during a fiery speech during a rally near the Selangor palace yesterday.
Lim said that the Sedition Act had a low threshold, which means a person can be charged or convicted without a need to prove their intentions.
“In sedition the question of whether there is good intention does not arise. The question of whether (the statement) threatens other people does not arise,” he added.
The draft bill was unveiled today to the public, almost two years after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had promised that the Sedition Act will be abolished and be replaced with the National Harmony Act.
Lim was accompanied by NUCC committee member Saifuddin Abdullah and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Joseph Kurup as they also unveiled the draft bills for other accompanying bills - the National Harmony and Reconciliation Bill, and the National Harmony and Reconciliation Commission bill.
'Bills still being discussed'
He however said that the bills are still being discussed, including with its critics such as the Malay Consultative Council and right-wing NGO Perkasa.
He admitted that there have been requests to include ‘Allah’ as an exclusive terms for Muslims, among others.
“This is still in discussion,” he said briefly.
Saifuddin meanwhile outlined the main objectives of the three bills:
- Make racial and religiously motivated hate speech as a criminal offence.
- Uphold equality and end unfair discrimination based on race, religion, gender or ability.
- Prepare a forum and mechanism to tackle discrimination issues by setting up a commission for Harmony and National Reconciliation.
He said that the public can read the bill at www.nucc.my.
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